Newry and Armagh Sinn Fein Assembly member Conor Murphy, reacting to the
British military's decision to ground eight military helicopters in the Six
Counties, has said that the decision was long overdue and claimed that the
fact that they took so long to do this had put the lives of civilians at
risk.

Mr. Murphy said:

``The decision by the British army to remove eight helicopters from service
is one which is long overdue. Nationalists, particularly in the South
Armagh area, have consistently highlighted the threat which is posed to
civilians from helicopters, some of which fly above densely populated areas
at rooftop height.

``Recently we have had two British military helicopter crashes, the most
recent of which was only two weeks ago in South Antrim, while before that
we had a crash in Mullaghbawn, both of which could have caused loss of life
to civilians who lived in the area.

``The British government and MoD has consistently ignored representations
concerning the dangers posed by these helicopters and their activities.
The fact that they have ignored these representations, resulting in a
number of crashes, can only lead people to believe that the British
government and MoD were only too happy to endanger lives in order to keep
their military machine on a war footing in Ireland. All British Army
helicopters should be grounded immediately and returned to their bases in
England.''